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China Dominates Men's Gymnastics; France, US Win Swimming Gold

July 30, 2012 3:52 PM

VOA News

Feng Zhe (L-R) of China and teammates Guo Weiyang, Chen Yibing, Zhang Chenglong and Zou Kai celebrate with their gold medals after taking first place in the men's gymnastics team final in the North Greenwich Arena at the London 2012 Olympic Games, July 30

The third full day of competition at the London Summer Olympics has ended, with China dominating men's gymnastics and leaving the highly touted U.S. team empty-handed.

China overcame a disastrous qualifying round to win the men's gymnastics competition Monday by a wide margin over Japan. But the biggest cheers from the crowd in London went to the hometown British team and its bronze medal finish.

The U.S. team, whose performance in the qualifying round had some experts predicting gold for the Americans, finished fifth.

In swimming, France's Yannick Agnel won his second gold medal of the games, winning the men's 400-meter freestyle. U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte, the current world champion, finished fourth.

But U.S. teen sensation Missy Franklin redeemed the Americans by winning her first gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

Photo Gallery:

Day 3 of Competition (Click to View)

Other gold medals were awarded Monday to Romania for shooting, Japan and Russia for judo, and North Korea for weightlifting.

Also Monday, the Swiss soccer team expelled Michel Morganella for sending a racist message on Twitter just after his team's loss to South Korea. Morganella later apologized, but a Swiss official said the team had no choice.

The United States and Japan each won 6 medals Monday, followed by China with 5, France with 3, and Romania and Ukraine with 2 each. Winning one medal were Russia, North Korea, Lithuania, South Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Colombia, Germany, Australia, Italy, Indonesia, India, Britain and Mongolia.

After three days of competition, China and the United States are tied with 17 medals, followed by Japan with 11, Italy with 8 and France with 7.